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The Culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sprung up around the basic beliefs and traditions of the Church. The culture is concentrated in the Jello Belt in the United States, but is, in a lesser extent, lived by active church members throughout the rest of the United States and the world.
Practices more or less distinctive to Latter-day Saints include following the Word of Wisdom (a health code which forbids alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee, and illicit drugs; and encourages caring for one's body by eating healthy foods and eating meat sparingly), tithing, chastity, modesty in dress and behavior, lay leadership (including service without pay), family home evenings (families are encouraged to meet weekly for prayer and other activities - typically on Monday), and home and visiting teaching (members regularly visit one another in their homes for prayer and study). Tattoos and body piercings (except for one pair of earrings for women) are strongly discouraged. Church members are encouraged to marry and have children, and as a result, Latter-day Saint families tend to be larger than average. All sexual activity, both heterosexual and homosexual, outside of the marriage covenant is considered a serious sin. Same-sex marriages are not performed or supported by the LDS church. Latter-day Saints are counseled not to partake of any form of media that is obscene or pornographic in any way, including media that depicts graphic representations of sex or violence.
The Church emphasizes the moral standards taught by Jesus Christ, including personal honesty, integrity, obedience to law, chastity outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage. The Church puts notable emphasis on the family, and the distinctive concept of a united family which lives and progresses forever is at the core of Latter-day Saint doctrine. The Church opposes abortion except under limited circumstances, such as in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother. It also opposes pornography and gambling.[1]
Latter-day Saint fathers who hold the priesthood typically bless their babies shortly after birth to formally give the child a name and a blessing and generate a Church record for them.
The LDS Church does not formally support any one political party or ideal, leaving such matters of state for individual consideration.
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[edit] Education
Latter-day Saints believe that one of the most important aspects of life on Earth is the opportunity for individuals to learn and grow. Accordingly, the Church strongly emphasizes education and subsidizes Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University-Idaho (formerly Ricks College), and Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
All members twelve and above attend Sunday School classes, which emphasize personal scripture studies and other forms of spiritual education and self-improvement.
Seminary is an established religious education program for High school students, which is usually scheduled before or after school hours. The LDS seminary program should not be confused with "seminaries" established as graduate level ministerial programs by other denominations. In some areas with large LDS populations, provisions are made by the high school to allow students to attend Seminary (off-campus) during the school day. The provision is not considered a school-recognized class. No credit is awarded by the school, nor is any grade or achievement listed on the school's official transcript. Attendance at Seminary is voluntary, although it does help when applying to Church-run universities. The Church Educational System administers the seminary program and also an Institute of Religion program for college-age Church members.
In addition, the Church sponsors a low-interest educational loan program known as the Perpetual Education Fund. This fund is designed to benefit young men and women from international areas of the world who need further education to become productive citizens in their respective countries. Many of them have served a mission, returned to their home, and lack needed funds to improve their standard of living. As they finish their education and enter the work force they pay back the funds, which are then loaned to other individuals.
In Buena Vista, Virginia, a group of LDS businessmen bought out a failing college in Virginia and renamed it Southern Virginia University. It is not owned by the Church, nor does it receive any funding, but depends heavily upon donations from Church members and friends. The school enforces an honor code, such as that at Brigham Young University[2]
[edit] Genealogy
Genealogical or family history research is an important aspect of Latter-day Saint tradition, stemming from a doctrinal mandate for church members to research their family tree and perform vicarious ordinances for their ancestors. Church members are able to do genealogical work in various Family History Centers located throughout the world usually in Latter-day Saint chapels. The advent of personal computers prompted the Church to create a specialized file format known as GEDCOM for storing and exchanging these records. Since then, GEDCOM has become a de facto standard that almost all genealogy programs support.
The Church maintains a website called FamilySearch to access genealogical records, which typically contain births, deaths, marriages and family group information. Church records also contain information on personal ordinances of members as well as vicarious temple ordinances such as baptism, endowment, and sealing to spouse, parent, and child. Genological and church related information is maintained in permanent storage in the Granite Mountain vault in the Wasatch Range of the Utah mountains. The church is currently working to digitalize all of these records and make them more readily available.
[edit] Missionaries
The LDS Church has one of the most active missionary programs of any world church. As of 31 December 2005 there were in excess of 52,000 full-time LDS missionaries serving without pay around the world. They serve for up to two years, frequently learning another language.
Missionary work is a fundamental principle of the Church, and has become one of the most readily identifiable characteristics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church headquarters assigns missionaries to their area of work, which can be in any part of the world where governments allow them. It also directs the missionary whether to focus on proselytizing, humanitarian work, or family history work.
[edit] Prayers
Formal public and personal prayers are addressed to "Heavenly Father" and offered in the name of Jesus Christ, followed by amen. When a prayer is given in public, it is customary for all attending to say "amen" at the prayer's conclusion. English-speaking members are encouraged to use "thee," "thou," "thy" and "thine" when addressing God, as a form of both familiarity and respect. Members who speak other languages use similar familiar, respectful syntax in prayer. Most prayers are extemporaneous and may be said while kneeling, standing, or sitting or in any other position. Bowing one's head and folding one's arms during prayer are both customary and encouraged.
Certain prayers associated with ordinances are defined and must be delivered verbatim, while others must follow a certain pattern. For example, the prayer to bless the sacrament is a set prayer which is delivered the same way each week. The priesthood holder kneels to say the prayer; if he accidentally deviates from the form, he is instructed to repeat the prayer until it is correct. Likewise, the prayer for baptism must be given verbatim prior to immersion; the priesthood holder stands in the water beside the person to be baptized, raises his right arm to the square, and pronounces the blessing. Other ordinations and blessings have a pattern, for example, in a confirmation prayer, the priesthood holder is to address the individual being confirmed by his or her full name, state the priesthood authority by which the ordinance is given, confirm that person as a member of the Church, and bestow the Holy Ghost with such words as "receive the Holy Ghost." This is usually followed by an extemporaneous personal blessing as directed by the Spirit.
[edit] Preparedness
The LDS church strongly encourages every family to be prepared for disasters.
Members are encouraged to plant gardens, store a year's supply of food, and to maintain a "72-hour Kit", containig necessary supplies to immediately sustain oneself in the event of a natural disaster. The Church is well-equipped with necessities on-hand and available for quick distribution. The Church's response to emergencies or disasters is directed through the bishop's storehouse.
The bishop's storehouse system is a network of Church-owned and operated commodity resource centers. They work much like retail stores with the difference that goods cannot be purchased: they are given charitably to those in need, either to entire areas (such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami) or upon an individual/family basis. Recipients are invited to work or render service to others in various ways in exchange for the goods to avoid the evils of the dole.
The concept of the storehouse and the Church Welfare Services emerged from scriptural principles, elucidated by a series of revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith beginning in 1831, a year after the Church was organized. In one revelation, Church members were directed to "remember the poor, and consecrate [their] properties for [the poor's] support".[3]
The implementation of the mutual help program has varied considerably according to the economic conditions of the members and the organizational structure of the Church. Utilization of the storehouse concept received intense emphasis during the United Order effort of the 1870s. From that time forward, most wards or congregations maintained their own storehouse until the introduction of regional storehouses (1934-1936). These storehouses figured prominently in the Church's effort to care for its people during the economic depression of the 1930s and formed the basis for a more systematic approach to shared assistance.
After World War II, the Church Welfare system, centered on the storehouse, evolved into an integrated and complex Church-wide production and distribution system. A higher level of coordination between Welfare farms, dairies, and canneries was established, and a wider range of goods became available. The Church established central storehouses to supply regional storehouses. In the 1970s, with the maturing of the storehouse system, the Church selectively introduced local production and storehouses in areas outside the United States where need and resources warranted.
Presently, the entire Bishop's Storehouse Resource System operates with efficiency and quality equal to commercial commodity activities, effectively assisting thousands of people every year with material necessities. Like other Church operations, the storehouse remains an operation based on volunteer work. Anyone, whether a member or not, has the chance to give their time to the storehouse. Often, youth groups will go to work in a local storehouse cannery as a service activity.
[edit] Public Speaking
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long and rich tradition of public speaking. Many of the early Church members -- and especially leaders -- were gifted orators and many were skilled in debate. Public speaking was common for both leaders and other lay members. This speaking tradition continues today. For example, during worship services on the first Sunday of each month, members of the congregation are invited to share their testimonies of the gospel, faith-building experiences, and other uplifting messages with the other members of the congregation.
On each of the other Sundays during the month, members of the congregation are selected in advance to give a "talk" (the LDS equivalent of a "sermon") on a particular Gospel principle or topic. Often the congregation will hear from one or two youth speakers and one or two adult speakers during these meetings. Children under age 12 are given the opportunity to give short talks in their Primary meetings, while teenagers are encouraged to contribute to church lessons.
Church leaders and missionaries are also encouraged to speak boldly and freely about the Gospel, and are often given opportunities for extemporaneous public speaking on various Gospel subjects.
Since the early days of the Church, talks given by leaders (especially those given in the Church's biannual General Conference meetings) have been recorded and widely distributed in written format. A digitized collection of these talks dating back to 1971 is available on the lds.org website, and talks dating back to the 1800s are available in printed format through various University and community libraries. In recent years the LDS Church and Brigham Young University have also made audio and video versions of selected talks freely available on their websites.[4]
[edit] Symbols
The LDS Church does not use the cross or crucifix as a symbol of faith. Mormons view such symbols as emphasizing Jesus' death as opposed to his life and resurrection. No pictures or icons are depicted in the chapel proper, as policy, to avoid an image becoming the focus of worship rather than the reality of God. Images such as paintings of Christ and photographs of LDS leaders and temples are common throughout the other parts of church buildings.
One of the most commonly used visual symbols of the Church is the trumpeting angel Moroni, proclaiming the restoration of the true gospel to the Earth (usually identified as the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6-7). A statue depicting Moroni often tops the tallest spire of LDS temples. Other common symbols associated with the Church are the letters CTR, meaning "Choose the Right", often depicted in a shield logo; and images of the Salt Lake City temple.
The Star of David, is also, to some extent, considered a legitimate church symbol.
When questioned on the subject of symbols, Gordon B. Hinckley has said that the Latter-day Saints themselves are the best symbols of their religion[5].
[edit] Titles
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints address each other as Brother or Sister and then usually append the last name (for example: Brother Smith, or Sister Young). Additionally, those that hold specific leadership positions may be addressed by their title and then their last name (for example: President Kimball). The most frequently-used titles are as follows.
- Bishop - The local Bishop of a ward is addressed by the title of Bishop. He is assisted by two counselors who are not addressed by title. The title "Bishop" is also used when referring to anyone who formerly served as bishop; that is, even after the bishop has ceased serving as the active leader of the ward he retains the title. There is a position in the LDS church referred to as the Presiding Bishop. He and his counselors are addressed as Bishop. The Presiding Bishop oversees the welfare services of the entire Church.
- Elder - While most adult male Church members hold the office of Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood, only full-time male missionaries, members of any of the Quorums of the Seventy (General & Area Authorities), and members of the Quorum of the Twelve are properly addressed with this title.
- President - In a Ward, the Elders' Quorum President may be addressed as President. The Teachers or Deacons Quorum President may be addressed with this title also, although they usually are not. Other presidents within the ward, such as Sunday School President, Relief Society President, etc., are generally not addressed by title. In a branch, the branch president is referred to as President. All members of a Stake (or District) Presidency, a Temple Presidency, a Mission Presidency, the Presidency of the Seventy, and the First Presidency are referred to as president.
